MMBA

NOTICE: All posts made within this forum are the opinion and responsibility of
the individual making the post and do not necessarily represent the opinions or stance of the MMBA.
Questions or comments about individual posts should be directed to the post author(s).
Questions about the MMBA itself may be directed to info@mmba.org.

I rode Yankee Springs for the first time yesterday. The trail seemed to be in good shape, but the warm-up loop (or whatever it's called -- the one which loops back to the parking area) could use a trim. It's got some serious face slappers. It was really fun, though. Once I got a feel for the trail I rather enjoyed it. I think it'd be fair to call it West Michigan's version of Pontiac Lake.

Is the Devil's Soup Bowl meant to be ridden? When I got to the intersection with the wooden post pointing right for it I saw "Devil's Soup Bowl" painted in black which matched the MTB Route decals, so I figured it was part of the trail. I went down the first descent, stopped at the plateau, didn't see any bike tracks, and figured it wasn't bike trail so I just pushed my bike back up the way I'd come and carried on the rest of the trail.

c0nsumer wrote:I rode Yankee Springs for the first time yesterday. The trail seemed to be in good shape, but the warm-up loop (or whatever it's called -- the one which loops back to the parking area) could use a trim. It's got some serious face slappers. It was really fun, though. Once I got a feel for the trail I rather enjoyed it. I think it'd be fair to call it West Michigan's version of Pontiac Lake.

Is the Devil's Soup Bowl meant to be ridden? When I got to the intersection with the wooden post pointing right for it I saw "Devil's Soup Bowl" painted in black which matched the MTB Route decals, so I figured it was part of the trail. I went down the first descent, stopped at the plateau, didn't see any bike tracks, and figured it wasn't bike trail so I just pushed my bike back up the way I'd come and carried on the rest of the trail.

I believe it's just a geological feature they are calling attention to for people that are out exploring. It's for sure not part of the normal loop.

Rode this morning, saw lots of vehicles in the lot (and SteveF and Tom ...), and the trails were in quite good shape. Of course, at this time of year, the vegetation is encroaching over the trailbed, including a fair number of thorny ones. Got some new scratches on the legs and located a water pump between laps and afterwards to try to remove any problematic plant residue before it caused any issues. Or should I say, before it added to my existing issues(!). A branchy treetop is down and blocking the trail shortly after mile 5.5, and an informal reroute has been put in that can't be ridden ... unless you can hop over a 12-inch log, and make an immediate left turn, that is. A handsaw could cut all those little branches, but it would take a long time - a chainsaw would be best.

The Devil's Soup Bowl is the destination of a hiking trail that crosses the MTB trail. It's pretty cool if you want to take a break and hop down there. Basically it's a deep and steep round depression in the ground. Even in the heat of summer it's only 65-75 degrees down there. A very interesting geological anomaly.

I went down to Yankee last Friday with the hopes of tackling my first MTB ride (ever) and was sadly scared off. Driving in, the car was in a constant swarm of deer flies and I couldn't imagine getting out. I was skeeered!